Supervisory signaling system for toll telephone service timing



H. ONISHI 1,849,468 SUPERVISORY SIGNALING SYSTEM FOR TOLL TELEPHONESERVICE TIMING March 15, 193 2.

2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec.

mm T NL B 2 2 March 15, 1932.

H. ONISHI 1,849,468

SUPERVISORY SIGNALING SYSTEM FOR TOLL TELEPHONE SERVICE TIMING FiledDec. 11, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 amnion Patented Mar. 15, 1932 I l 11,849,468

V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l nnrxrcnr ONISHI, or KEIJQ; CHOSEN, JAPANit v sornnvisonv SIGNALING sirsrnm non from, TELEPHONE-SERVICE r MINGApplication filed December 11, 1928, Serial No. 325,185, and in JapanDecember 28, 1927.

My invention relates to improvements in able mechanical connections.\Vhen the supervisory signaling systems for toll telemagnet is energizedit drives the shaftof phone service timing, and particularly to thestepping switch to the extent of one step, system for making indication,before a toll and when deenergized the magnet is restored boardoperator, of the lapsing of one unit to normal without actuating theshaft and be- 155 time of conversation, a rated fee being comes readyfor next stepping of the same. charged for such unit time. Any suitablemeansmaybe employed, such as An object of my invention is to obtain a'pawl connected to the magnet and a ratchet means for giving supervisorysignals to a toll wheel secured -to' the shaft. A supervisory boardoperator automatically when oneunit signaling switchA comprises a bankof con- 60 time of conversation is over. Another obtacts, O'to 29inclusive, and a wiper 83,'while ject of my invention is to providemeans for stepping switch B, for restoring theswitch automaticallyindicating the beginning and A to. its normal position, comprises a bankof lapsing of the unit time. A further object of contacts 0' to 29inclusive, and a wiper 34.

my invention is to obtain means for energiz- The wipers 33 and 34normally engage the 65 ing a plurality of supervisory signalingapcontacts 0. and 0 respectively, and when op paratus from a commonbattery, preventing erated, they are simultaneously or. synchro itsundesirable momentary heavy discharge. nously driven by the magnet'Minthe direc- A still further object of my invention is to obtion shownthe associated arrows,step"by tain means for automatically restoring thestep, sweepingover the respectivebanks of 70 signaling apparatus to thenormal position, contacts. 'i I r. after the toll telephone conversationis over. Amongithe'bank contactsof the switch A, I

There is many other objects of my inventhe contacts 25 to 28 inclusiveare united into tion, which, together with the foregoing, acontinuousstrip, and connected to a source will appear in the followingdescription. In of energy V, which maybe a usual common- 75. order thatthe invention may be fully underbattery as is provided for the telephoneexstood, there will now be described, by way of change service; All ofthe contacts of the example, and with reference to the accombank'B,except the contact 0', are'also electripa-nying drawings, wherein callyconnected together, or united into a con Fig. 1 is a diagramshowing oneemboditinuous strip, which is connected to a con- 8 ment of myinvention, and Fig. 2 shows three ductor leading to the contact 31 ofthe key K. positions of the key K shown in Fig. 1. i Fig. A suitableinterrupter 38-is connected be- 3 is a diagram showing anotherembodiment tween the last contact 29 of the bank A, and

M of my invention, and Fig. 4.- shows thre'e posithe current source V.In the drawings, the

"" tions of the key K shown in Fig. 3. interrupter 38 is shown ascomprising a ro- 35 Referring to Fig. 1, the system is shownin tatablemember, having a plurality of alterthe normal or non-operated position.The nately arranged contact segments 38 and inreference character Kdesignates a manually sulating material 38", and cooperating withoperable rotary key, having contacts 31 and a a pair of contact brushes.The rotatable 32, and a suitable handle member N. The member is drivenby suitable means, such as handle member N may be'rotatedthrough 180' anelectric motor 39. degrees of angle, in order to operatethe key D and Fare relays, respectively having into three positions, viz., normal,start, contacted and f, and in combination, constiand stop positions, asshown in Fig. 2. V tute a relay-interrupter, the operationof L is asupervisory signal lamp, and M isa which will be hereinafter described.The restepping magnet which drives stepping sistance of the winding, aswell as, the sensiswitches A and B, as hereinafter described. tivity, ofthe relay D are made much higher The magnet is of the known type, and isconthan those of the magnet M, so that the magnected, as will beunderstood, to the rotatable net M cannot be operated when itisenershafts of the stepping switches by any suitgized in series circuitwith the relay D. V

In order totransmit driving cement impulses to the magnet M, there isprovided a contactor C, a current distributer W, a distributercontrolling device X,;a magnet T, and a relay-interrupter comprising tworelays R and S. The contactor C is actuated by a rotatable cam 40,continuously operated by a clock mechanism 41, and is so arranged thatthe contactor C is intermittently closed at a at this time. Whenenergized the relay R closes its contact n, whereby an energizingcircuit for the relay S iscompleted, resulting in the closing ofitscontact s. The relay S has a wellknown retarding'metal ring 42disposed around its core, so that its operation is suitably retarded inorder to secure a proper stepping operation of the magnet T. When thecontact 8 is closed, the winding of the relay R is shunted out of theabovetraced circuit, and the magnet T is suificiently energized to drivethe wipersand 36 of the switches NV and simultaneously, to the secondcontacts n and o of the respective banks W and X. y r

As the result of the closing of the contact s, the relay R isde-energized, to open the energizing circuit of the relay S. After ashort time interval which is sufliciently long to permit the magnet T tooperate properly, the contact 8 isopen, and the energizing circuit forthe relay R is completed from the battery V, through the contact 1; andwiper 36 of the switch X, the windings of the mag- :3 net T and relay Rin' series relation, to the ground.

Thereafter the relay-interrupter R and S repeat similar operations toperiodically energize and de-energize the magnet T, which drives thewipers 35 and 36, step by step in S)11Cl11OI1lS1I1,'lI1 the directionshown bythe respective arrows. As illustrated, all of the contacts ofthe bank X, except the first one u, is made integral with the secondcontact Q1, and the wiper 36 is continuously connected to the battery Vafter the operation has started. The wipers 35 and 36 complete their onecycle of operation during six seconds, the time interval between everyclosing of the contact C. The wiper 35, therefore, engages the contact191 at a rate of once for every six seconds, and current impulses aretransmitted to thekey K connected to the contact p1. The duration ofsuch engaging is determined by the rotating speed of the wiper 35, and

When the contactor C is closed, the

may be adjusted by the adjustment of the retarding ring 42. V

In a large oflice where a number of the set consisting of the key K andassociated superall the supervisory signaling apparatus, protecting thecommon-battery V from any undesirable momentary heavy discharge,

It will readily be understood that the current distributer may beomitted, if a heavy discharge may be allowed, or there is only a smallnumber of supervisory signaling apparatus, in which case the key contact32 may be directly connected tothe contactor C.

y The system shown is disposed on a toll board, and is designed forsupervising a three minutes toll conversation. The rated fee is chargedfor every three; minutes conversation, which time is called a unit timein the present description.

Now assume that the toll board operator has connected together thecalling and called parties or subscribers, and allowed the conversationto start. The operator'then actuates the key K to the start position, tocomplete the energizing circuit of the magnet M at the contact 32.Consequently, as will readily be understood, current impulses aretransmitted to the magnetM at every six seconds from the currentdistributer W, and by each impulse, the wipers 33 and 34 are driven onestep in the direction shown by the arrows. After the 25th impulse istransmitted to the magnetM, the wiper 33 engages the continuous strip25-28, and the supervisory signal lamp L is energized on a circuit fromthe battery V, through the strip 2528, the wiper 33 and the lamp L, tothe ground E, and the operator is notified thereby that there has beenlapsed 25 X 6 seconds, that is, 2 minutes and 30 seconds after theconversation was started, and that the unit time will be over by 30seconds thereafter. The lamp L is kept energized until the last but two.or the 28th impulse is sent to the magnet M, and by the29th impulse, thewiper 33 is stepped to the contact 29, where the energizing circuit forthe lamp L is transferred to the circuit including the interrupter 38,and the lamp L flickers in accordance with the operation of theinterrupter 38. This notifies the operator that the unit time will beover at 6 seconds thereafter,

and the last or the 30th impulse actuates the magnet M to drive thewiper 33 to the normal K is kept in the start position, and'anothercycle of supervisory operation will be efl'ected just in the same manneras above stated, and when the toll telephone is'rung 0fi',the opera toractuates the key K to the normaPposition.

Whenthe toll telephone is rung 011' before the three minutes durationover, say, at such a time that the wiper 33 engages the contact 25, theoperator may actuate the key K to the normal position, in order to havethe apparatus restored to the normal position rapidly. At the normalposition of the key K, with the wipers 33 and 34: at their intermediatepositions, a driving circuit forthe magnet M is prepared from thebattery V,

through the relay-interrupter D, F, the wiper V 34 and contact strip1-29 of the switch B, the contact 31 of the key K and the magnet M, tothe ground. The magnet M then receives driving impulses by periodicenergization and de-energization of the relays D and'F, and consequentperiodic opening and closing of the relay contacts d and f, theoperation being similar to that of the relay-interrupter R, S, ashereinbefore described. The wipers In order to make'such deduction ofthe non-charged time interval from the total duration of the tollconnection, the operator is to actuate the key K to the stop position.In this position, both of the contacts 31 and 32 are open and theswitches A and B are kept standstill at intermediate contacts, say, the24th contact of the'bank A and the corresponding position on the strip129' of the bank B, respectively. When the fault is over, the operatoractuates thekey K to the start position, and the wipers 33 and 34 areoperated in the manner described, for the remaining period of the unittime.

If the unit time is other than three minutes, it will be readilyunderstood that the system may be changed to meet with this condition bychanging the number of contacts of the banks A and B, or the periodbetween the successive current impulses transmitted from the contactorC. It will also be understood that a group of several supervisorydevices may be connected to one contact 271, 722, 793, etc., of thecurrent distributor V, directly or by intermediation of suitable relaydevices.

In Fig. 3, a modified system is shown, wherein the supervisory signallamp is once lighted at the beginning of the unit time, in order tonotify the operator that the super visory operation hasstarted inaproper V manner, and in which like. reference characters are employed todesignate similarparts shown in Fig. 1, except certain diflerenceshereinafter pointed out. In this modifica- .tion, the key K is providedwith'an additional contact 37 connected between the interrupter 38 andthe contact 0. of the bank A, while the first contact 1 thereof is'connected to the second contact 392 of the current distributor W', andthecontact 26-29'of the bank A are united together and connected to thecommonbattery V.

With the above arrangement, when the key K'is operated to the startposition, in addition to thec'losure of the contact 32, the contact 37is also closed; and a circuit is completed for the supervisory signallamp L,

'from the batterythrough the interrupter 38,

the contact 37, the contact 0 and wiper 33.

of the switch A, and the lamp L," to the ground, and the lamp L flickersaccordingly,

thus showing that the supervisory operation is started. y I i' Upon thefirst driving operation of the magnet M, the wiper 33 is stepped to thebank contact 1, and thelamp L is-exting'uished.

At this time, the wiper 35 of the current distributer W will have passedthe bank contact ;01 to which'the magnet M is nowconneeted, and willsweep over the remaining bank contacts during the remaining time'ofthesix seconds" period. 1 j

At the time when'the operator actuates the key to the startrposition,ifthe wiper 1:19

35 is on the bank contact 170 or 11, there occurs theaboveementionedoperation, but if the. wiper 35has just'passed thecontact p1, but I is coming to engage the next'contact 122, the

lamp circuit is instantaneously completed).

from the battery V, through thewipe'r35, the contact p2, the bankcontact landwiper 33 f of the switch A, and the lamp L, .to the ground.Thelamp L is then lighted to'show the fact: that the supervisoryoperation is" properly started, but this lamp is extinguished as soon asthe wiper 35 has passed the contact 792. Upon the 26th operation of themagnet M, the wiper 33 engages the bank contact 26, and the lamp L istherefore nergized over a circuit from the battery V, through the bankstrip 26'29 and wiper '33 of the switch A, and the lamp L, to theground; This'energizing circuit iskept com- ,plete until the last or30th operation of the magnet is effected, thereupon the lamp circuitbeing transferred to the flickering circuithereinbefore-traced, tonotify the operator that the unit time is over, as the wiper 33'nowengages the original contact 0. a P

It will be noted that" there might have -occur-red a certain timeerrorfor the first unit time of three minutes, if the first impulse shouldnot be sent to the-magnet Mat a time just after six seconds from thetime when -With'predetermined time intervals theener- 'gizlng circuit ofsaldelectrlcal slgnal device 1 This error will be six seconds at themaximum which will occur 'if thefirst impulse is sent immediately afterthe key K is operated.

In order to minimize such errors, the period of operation of thecontactor C may be made'shorter', say, 3 seconds, and the number ofsteps or bank contacts of the switches A and B doubled, and the maximumerror will be reduced 'tothree seconds. 7 It will be readilyunderstcodcthat the sequence 1 of energization and de-energization ofthe supervisory signal lamp L for obtaining the required supervisoryindications may be modified'in various ways, by changing the connectionsof the bank contacts of the switch A among themselves and also with thesource of electric current; It will also be obvious that the lamp L maybe substituted by some other'suitable signal devices, and it is to beunderstood that such changes in the construction, form, arrangement andconnection of the component parts of my invention may be made as shallfall within the scope of the appended claims. 7 Y

I claim as my invention 1. In a supervisory'signaling system for tolltelephone service timing, comprising an electricalsignal device havingenergizing circuit, a stepping switch having a wiper and a bank ofcontacts, restoring means therefor having a wiper and a bank ofcontacts, and a magnet having an energizing circuit fordriV- 111g saidwipers step by step, contaotor means adapted to be opened and closed atpredetermined time intervals, a source of electric current connectedthereto, and key means for controlling said energizing circuit for saidmagnet, the bank of contacts of said stepping switch being so arrangedas to open and closein accordance with the operation of the wiper ofsaid stepping switch.

I 2; In a supervisory signaling system for toll tele'phone'servicetimingcomprising an electrical signal device having an energizing circuit, astepping switch comprising a wiper V r and a bank of contacts forcontrolling the en- .ergizing circuit'of said electrical signal device,another set of awiper and a bank of contacts, and a magnet having anormal energizing circuit for driving said wipers step by step, a relayinterrupter, key means for making driving connections between saidrotary .m-agnet and said relay interrupter through said second set ofwiper and bank of contacts,

Vcontactor means adapted'to be opened and closed at predetermined timeintervals, a source ofelectricjcurrent for said magnet and relayinterrupter, said key means controlling said normal energizing circuitof said stepping magnet.

3. In supervisory signaling system foretell telephone service timing,comprising an electherefor, a stepping switch having a wiper and a bankof contacts, means operable for restoring said stepping switchestonormal,

and having a wiper and a bank of contacts, and a stepping magnet, havingan energizing circuit therefor, for driving said wipers step by step,contactor' means adapted to be opened and closed at predetermined timeintervals, a source of electric current controlled thereby for saidstepping magnet, key means for controlling said energizing circuit forsaid stepping magnet, the bank contacts ofsaid stepping switch being soarranged as to open and close said energizing circuit of the electricalsi nal device with predetermined intervals,

b u I and said contactor means including a current distributing devicefor connecting said energizmg c1rcu1t for sald stepping magnet to saidsource at predetermined time lntervals once for one cycle of operationof said c0ntactor means; a

In witness whereof I affix my slgnature.

HEIKICI-II ONISHI.

